TED Talks
TED: How to solve the world's biggest problems | Natalie Cargill
Sometimes the world's biggest issues can seem so intractable that meaningful change feels impossible. But what if the answer has been right in front of us all along? What if the answer is actually throwing money at the problems? In this...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can other animals understand death? | Barbara J. King
In 2018, an orca called Tahlequah gave birth. But her daughter died within an hour. Tahlequah, however, didn't leave her body. Over the next 17 days and 1,600 kilometers, she kept it afloat atop her own. By altering her feeding and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Do mosquitos actually bite some people more than others? | Maria Elena De Obaldia
Some swear they're cursed to be hunted by mosquitos while their close-by companions are regularly left unscathed. Are mosquitos really attracted to some people more than others? And if so, is there anything we can do about it? Maria...
TED Talks
TED: CRISPR's next advance is bigger than you think | Jennifer Doudna
You've probably heard of CRISPR, the revolutionary technology that allows us to edit the DNA in living organisms. Biochemist and 2023 Audacious Project grantee Jennifer Doudna earned the Nobel Prize for her groundbreaking work in this...
TED Talks
TED: Will superintelligent AI end the world? | Eliezer Yudkowsky
Decision theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky has a simple message: superintelligent AI could probably kill us all. So the question becomes: Is it possible to build powerful artificial minds that are obedient, even benevolent? In a fiery talk,...
SciShow
Corn Shouldn't Be Food, But It Is
You probably have a bag of frozen corn in your freezer, or have chowed down on a buttery ear of corn at a cookout. But not only did it take thousands of years for humans to domesticate teosinte to corral it into what we now know as corn,...
SciShow
What Do Parrots Think They’re Saying?
You ever see a parrot mimicking humans words, and wonder if they really get what they're talking about? They're smarter than they look - there's a lot of meaning in every squawk and chirp that parrots make. Not bad for a bird brain.
SciShow
Why Flies Die When They See Dead Flies
You're lucky you don't literally age faster and drop dead when you see a dead person... because fruit flies do. Here's what researchers are learning about the connection between perception, aging, and mood disorders like depression.
SciShow
Is The Orca Uprising Upon Us?
In 2023, a whole bunch of orcas started attacking boats off the coast of Spain. Was this the first battle in an all-out interspecies war? Well, probably not. But it's a pretty neat look into how trends come and go in orca pods - like...
SciShow
Why Is ChatGPT Bad At Math?
Sometimes, you ask ChatGPT to do a math problem that an arithmetically-inclined grade schooler can do with ease. And sometimes, ChatGPT can confidently state the wrong answer. It's all due to its nature as a large language model, and the...
SciShow
Do Polar Bears Have Fiber Optic Fur?
Humans may use fiber optic technology to make everything from novelty desk toys to high speed internet cables, but Nature has its own ideas. For decades, scientists have debated to what extent polar bears may use the optical properties...
SciShow
Salmon Can Turn on Night Vision. Why Can’t We?
Most of us can only see certain wavelengths of light our entire lives. So why can salmon switch on night vision? We'll learn how they can reshape their eyes to see into the infrared.
SciShow
Why These Animals Eat Sh*t
Of all the food options in the world, you'd think that feces would be low on anyone's preference list. But for these animals, eating poop can be anything from a delicacy to a health food - and yes, humans are on the list too.
SciShow
The Rocket That Took Tortoises to the Moon
Months before Apollo 8 took humans around the Moon for the first time, two Russian tortoises (plus some other lunar tourists) had already made it back home. This was Zond 5 — the first mission to return to Earth after visiting another...
SciShow
You’re Not a Lab Mouse, but You Might Be a Wild Mouse
The lab mice we use for genetic studies are not only closely related, but live out their whole lives in a sterile environment, so they don’t tell us everything we need to know about actual humans. The answer might be grabbing a wild...
MinuteEarth
Mushroom Wars
Two mushroom guilds with vastly different strategies are locked in competition for forest dominance.
MinuteEarth
When Was The Worst Time In History To Die?
By combining historical demography and epidemiology, we can (sort of) determine how people throughout history have died.
MinuteEarth
How Caffeine Accidentally Took Over The World
Plants don't make caffeine just for us, so what DO they make it for?
SciShow
Inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
SciShow takes you inside the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster to show you how, nearly 30 years later, life has adapted and persisted.
SciShow
How Do Oysters Make Pearls?
Quick Questions gives you the low-down on how oysters turn a tiny bit of gunk into a lovely, valuable pearl. ----------
SciShow
We Skipped Flu Season. That's Bad
Some experts feared we were in for a "twindemic" during the 2020-2021 flu season. That didn't happen, which might mean that there will be more people susceptible to getting sick this year.
SciShow
The Truth About Asparagus and Your Pee
An astonishing amount of research has gone into the question of whether asparagus really makes your urine smell funny. Sci Show explains it all inside!
SciShow
The Tiny Fish That's Changing Modern Medicine
The little fish Danio rerio holds secrets to understanding how vertebrates develop, how diseases like cancer work, and how we might one day learn how to regenerate human heart tissue.